Wire feeding attachment for wire stitching and other machines



April 19, 1932. E N H' 1,855,163

WIRE FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR WIRE STITCHING AND OTHER MACHINES Original Filed Aug. 1'7, 1928 1 I II 1% 1| 1 Z6. Z7

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I j; v i J I Patented Apr. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT orr ciaf BUDOLF E. ZERUNEITH, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T- J'ERSEY'i STITCI-IING- MACHINE 00., OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY; A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY WIRE FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR WIRE STITCHINGAND OTHER;

Original application filed August 17, 1928; Seria1 No..300,244...1)1vided' and this-application: filed J'une My invention relates to a new and useful wire feeding attachment for wire stitching and other machines of the type disclosed and claimed in my ,co-pending. application Serial No. 300,244,. filed August 17 ,1928, of which thepresent applicationis a division.

In wire stitching and similar machinery, it is desirable toprovide means for intermittently, synchronously, and automatically feeding the Wire to the forming and driving mechanism of the wire stitching machine in predetermined. lengths corresponding to the size of. the staple or stitch to be formed, and

to the above ends-my invention consists of a pair'of feed heads, means for driving said feed heads in timedrelation to the forming andrdriving mechanism of the wire stitching machine,and adjustable means for predetermining the length of. thewire to be fed with each stroke. of the forming and driving mechanisms.

My invention further consists of various other novel features of construction and advantage,.,all as hereinafter described and claimed For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings one form .thereofwhich' is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limitedto the precise arrangement and organization of theinstrumentalities as herein shown and. described. V r

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a1front elevation of the stitching head and wire feeding mechanism of a wire stitching machine embodying my invention. p

Fig. 2 represents a section on line 22.of Fig. 1, certainparts being shown in elevation.

Fig. 3 represents a section online 3 3 Fig. 2.

Referring to the-drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts, 1 designates the frame or housingof the stitching Serial No. LG3,'84.-3.

head of a Wire stitching machine embodying my invention, comprising the frontandrear walls 2 and 3 and the encl-walls gsaid frame or housing; being. preferably. made in. two- Sections whos s abutat 5,; as. willbe understood from Fig. 2.. y

6 designates a main driving shaft which is journalled iii-suitable bearings 7f andihavinga hub which is securedlto: said shaftby the set screw 8. The-shaftfi througli. the link 9, connecting rod. 10v and their adjunctsac: tuates the driver. llrand the former barl'2lto form and drive the. staples orstitches from the wire 13 which is. fedlover and guidedflby the stationary cutter. 143, the outer. edge .of which is in operativealignment'Withthe movable cutter 15 whereby the desiredLlengthof Wire .may be severed before beingbent by'the former 12 andd riven by the driver 11,:the

parts heretofore describedf forming part of my co-pending; application above referred to and need not be describ'ediingreater detail-,Qas the present invention is directedlto the wire feeding mechanism;. I

The shaft, 6. also. carries a gear 17, which meshes with the gear 18 on ftheshaft '19,.having ahub which is 'securedto said shaft b the set screw 20 and. whichflcarries at its. ront or outer end-the feedlhead 21 'Thegear. 18

providedwith thespring. jaws. 29. and. 30 Y which are formed by cutting the slots 82 and the enlarged inneropenings 33whereby'a certain amount of resiliency. is iinpartedto said j aws.- Theslots 32 inthefeed heads 21and 26 are positionedin. opposite-directions, as seen in Fig. 1', so that thefreeend of the jaw 29 is juxtaposed to the'fiXedandconne'cted portionv of. the. j {MW-2Q and. vice versa. The

- pelled when thefopposite faces thereof are intermittently engaged by the peripheral outer working peripheries 34 and 35 of the jaws 29 and are cylindrical or concentric about the axes of the shafts 19 and 23, and

rious thicknesses, without the necessity of. ad

justment, and since the wire 13 is only projuxtaposed contact or working faces or areas of the jaws 29 and 30, it follows that the length of'wire propelled or fed by each revolution of the shafts 19and 23, is predetermined by the peripheral contact of said jaws,

the maximum length'ofwire fed by a single revolution of the shafts 19 and'23obviously being equal to the length of the periphery I 34'or of 'thejaws 29 and 30. This maximum length of wire is only fed or propelled when'the jaws 29 and 30am in direct opposition so that the entire lengthof their peripheries 34 and 35 will contact with the wire 13 simultaneously, and by varying the angular relation of the jaws 29 and 30, and hence the contacting peripheral areas of said jaws, the length of the wire fed or propelled by a single revolution of the shafts 19 and 23 is varied accordingly. The shaft 23 is retained by means of the latch 38 which engages an annular groove43 in the rear end 39 of said shaft, see Fig. 3, andwhen it is desired to adjust the relation of the jaws 29 and 30, it is merely necessary to raise the latch 38 and move the shaft 23 longitudinally, until the gear. 22 is out of mesh with the gear 18, whereupon said shaft may be revolved to the desired .cally, and that by properly timing or syn-' extent andthen restored to the position seen in Fig.2. When the desired adjustment has been secured, the shaft 23 is withdrawn rearwardly until the gear 22 is again in mesh said shaft. By so adjusting the relation of the shafts l9 and 23, the extent or length of the contact of the peripheries or working faces 34 and 35 of the. jaws 29 and 30 is predetermined, thereby to-predetermine the length of the'wire 13 fed or propelled by a single revolution. of the shafts 19 and 23. The wire13 is guided'in suitable guide tubes or channels 39 and 41 suitably supported in the studs or lugs44 carried by the front 2 of the casing 1. i

Since the wire 13 29 and'30 are, in contact, it will be seen that the wire is fed intermittently an'dautomatichronizing the revolutions of the shafts 19 and 23, byproper selection of the'gears 1 7,

is only fed or propelled i when the peripheries34 and 35 of the jaws shafts 19 and 23 by set screws 42, whereby further adjustment of the relative positions of said heads may be obtained.

It will be understood that while'I have described my invention as being a division of my copending application aforesaid and as being especially adapted to wire-stitching machines, the broad principles of my invention are equally adaptable to any other machine, wherein it is desired to feed or propel a wire intermittently to any desired mechanism for any desired purpose, V. 1

It will be further apparent that whileI have shown spur gears 17, 18 and 22 as being employed for the actuation of the rotary jaws, any other suitable form of power transmission device may beemployed, as spiral,

bevel or other form of gearing, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I am aware thatthe invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes; thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in-all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as'new, and desire to secure :by Let ters Patent, is: V

l. A feeding mechanism comprising a pair of opposed one-piece, resilient rotary jaws each having a periphery less than a complete circle; said jaws being adapted to coact and to grip and propel the material fed therebetween, andmeansfor varyingthe overlap I of said jaws.

A feeding device, comprising a pair of juxtaposed shafts, means to revolve said shaftsin timed relation toeach other, a feeding-head carried by each of said shafts. in operative alignment with each other, said feeding heads each comprising a' resilient one-piece jaw having an outer circular peripheral portion adapted to-coact with the correspondingouter circular peripheral 'portion of the other resilient jaw to grip and propel the material fed therebetween, and

means for varying the angular relation of. said feeding heads and the overlap of said jaws.

juxtaposed shafts, means to revolve-said shafts in timed relation to'each' other, a feed.- ing head carried byeach of said shafts in operative alignment with eachother, said feeding heads each comprising a resilient aw having an outer circular peripheral portion 3. A feeding device, comprising a pair of adapted to coact with the corresponding juxtaposed outer circular peripheral portion of the other resilient jaw to grip and propel the material fed therebetween, and means for varying the angular relation of said feeding heads and the overlap of said jaws, said means including a train of gears interconnecting said two shafts, the gears of said train being adapted to be displaced axially so as to throw the same out of mesh and into meslrin any desired angular relation to the remaining gears.

4. A feeding device, comprising a pair'of juxtaposed shafts, means to revolve said shafts in timed relation to each other, a feeding head carried by each of said shafts in operative alignment with each other, said feeding heads each comprising a resilient j aw having an outer circular peripheral portion adapted to coact with the corresponding juxtaposed outer circular peripheral portion of the other resilient jaw to grip and propel the material fed therebetween, and means for varying the angular relation of said feeding heads and the overlap of said jaws, said means including means for adjustably securing said feeding heads to said shafts.

5. In a feeding device, a casing, a shaft journalled in said casing having its front end projecting through the front wall of said casing, a gear fast on said shaft, means for revolving said gear, a second shaft j ournalled in said casing parallel to said first shaft and having its front and rear ends projecting through the front and rear walls of said casing, a gear fast on said second shaft and normally in mesh with the gear on said first shaft, feeding heads on the juxtaposed front ends of said shafts, and a latch pivoted to the rear of said casing and engaging a seat in the rear end of said second shaft whereby the latter is retained in normal operative position with respect to said first shaft.

6. In a feeling device, a casing, a shaft j ournalled in said casing having its front end projecting through the front wall of said casing, a gear fast on said shaft, means for revolving said gear, a second shaft j ournalled in said casing parallel to said first shaft and having its front and rear ends projecting through the front and rear walls of said casing, a gear fast on said second shaft normally in mesh with the gear on said first shaft, a latch pivoted to the rear of said casing and engaging a seat in the rear end of said second shaft whereby the latter is retained in normal operative position with respect to said first shaft, and a pair of feeding heads adjustably carried by the front ends of said shafts, each comprising a resilient jaw having a circular periphery, said jaws being adapted to grip and propel the material disposed between said feeding heads through a distance equal to the length of their contacting circular peripheries.

7. In a feeding device, a casing, a shaft journalled in said casing having its front end projecting through the front wall of said casing, a gear fast on said shaft, means for,

revolvlng said gear, a second shaft journalled in said casing parallel to said first shaft, and having its front and rear ends projecting through the front and rear Walls of said casing, a gear fast on said second shaft normally in mesh withthe gear, on said first shaft, a latch pivoted to the rear of said casing and engaging a seat in the rear end of said second shaft whereby the latter is retained in normal operative position with respect to said first shaft, a pair of feeding headsadjustably carried by the front ends of said shafts, each comprising a resilient jaw having a circular, periphery, said jaws being adapted to grip and propel the material disposed between said feeding heads through a distance equal to the length of their contacting circular peripheries, and means for predetermining the length of material fed by a single revolution of said heads.

8. In a feeding device, comprising a pair of juxtaposed shafts, means to revolve said shafts in timed relation to each other, a feeding head carried by each of said shafts in operative alignment with each other, said feeding heads comprising a resilient aw having an outer circular peripheral portion adapted to coact with the corresponding peripheral portion of the other resilient jaw to clamp the material fed therebetween, and means for varying the angular relation of said feeding heads and overlap of said jaws, said means consisting of gearing mounted on the juxtaposed shafts.

9. A feeding mechanism comprising a pair of feed rolls or feeding cams mounted upon a pair of juxtaposed shaftsin operative alignment with each other, means to revolve said shafts, and means to vary the contacts ing surface of said feed rolls or cams which clamp the material fed therebetween, said means consisting of gearingmounted on the juxtaposed shafts, whereby the length of material fed may be varied while the feeding mechanism is in motion.

RUDOLF E. ZERUNEITH. 

